Lesson 12: Unconventional Fossil Fuels Flashcards
What are tar sands?
Also known as oil sands. Naturally occurring mixtures of sand, clay, water and a dense viscous form of petroleum called bitumen
What % of tar sands does Canada have?
73%
What is oil shale?
Deposits of organic compounds called kerogen in sedimentary rocks that have not undergone sufficient pressure, heat or time to become conventional oil
What % of oil shale does the USA have?
77%
What is shale gas?
Usually methane in coal seams, or natural gas trapped in fractures and pores of sandstones and shales
What is deepwater oil?
Accessible reserves (e.g. North Sea oil) run out, prospecting companies have to look into deeper ocean waters with greater risks and costs
Where is deepwater drilling occuring
Gulf of Mexico and Brazil’s off-shore reserves
Define peak oil
When oil production will reach a global peak, before declining sharply
What is predicted to be the most used fossil fuel by 2030?
Unconventional gas
How many barrels of unconventional gas will there be by 2030?
10 million barrels (equivalent) per day
Where is deepwater drilling occurring?
200-300km off the coast of Brazil
Where are specific location of deepwater drilling in Brazil?
São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro
Which state company has developed these oil rigs?
Petrobras
How deep is drilling going down?
2000m below the surface of the water and thousands below the sea bed
How much do the special fleet of storage and offloading ships cost?
US$2 billion each
How much do investments in deepwater drilling amount to?
2014-2018 reached $221billion
How many barrels a day would Petronas produce from drilling?
500,000 barrels of oil
What are the social benefits?
More jobs
More energy secure in Brazil
Improved standards of living for people
What are the economic benefits?
Income from the exports of oil
Brazil is catching up with world’s leading economies
Greatest stock valuation
Implications to the environment from deepwater drilling
-Polluted sea water - to dirty to swim in
-Landscape is being scarred by the petrochemical oil stations
-Marine wildlife is under threat which is having a knock-on effect to biodiversity loss and food security
-Contribution to climate change and pollution of the atmosphere
Where is shale gas being extracted from in the US?
New York, Pennsylvania, Texas and West Virginia
How is shale gas extracted?
-Drilling vertically down into the rock more than 1 km below the surface
-liquid solution made to force fissures and lines of weakness apart in order to free the trapped shale gas
What % of US gas did shale increase by between 2000 and 2015
1-25%
What are the economic benefits of shale gas?
-Reduces the need for imports
-Increases energy security
-Use as energy exporter
